A major new development has arrived in the PlayStation 5 jailbreak scene. Developer Nathan Fargo has publicly released Relapse Exploit, a browser-to-kernel exploit chain claiming support for PS5 firmware 7.00 through 13.60.

Unlike entry points that require a vulnerable game, Blu-ray disc or Y2JB, Relapse starts through the PS5 browser available inside the User’s Guide. After successfully exploiting WebKit, it attacks the kernel, escapes the sandbox and starts an ELF Loader on port 9021.

What Relapse Exploit Includes

The public chain combines several important stages:

A WebKit exploit providing initial userland code execution.

A kernel exploit based on an aio_multi_wait use-after-free race.

Kernel read-and-write access.

Root privileges and a sandbox escape.

An ELF Loader listening on port 9021.

Options to load Kstuff, ShadowMountPlus and etaHEN after exploitation.

This makes Relapse more than a simple WebKit entry point or proof of concept. It is designed as a usable jailbreak chain capable of loading PS5 homebrew payloads.

Why This Release Matters

Relapse potentially brings browser-based jailbreaking to PS5 consoles running firmware 7.xx, 8.xx, 9.xx, 10.xx, 11.xx, 12.xx and 13.xx.

The most important development is its claimed support for firmware 13.60, which previously lacked a comparable public browser-to-kernel chain. Users on affected firmware may now have a path toward homebrew applications, file managers, emulators and other payload-based tools.

However, obtaining kernel access does not automatically guarantee that every homebrew feature will work. Kstuff, etaHEN, ShadowMountPlus and FPKG support must still be compatible with the exact firmware being used.

Current Status and Limitations

Relapse is public and its source code is available, but this remains an early experimental release.

The project warns that:

The WebKit stage may require several attempts.

The browser can stall and require a reload.

The kernel exploit can freeze, restart or panic the console.

Payload compatibility may differ between firmware versions.

Users have already reported crashes on firmware 12.70 when attempting to load payloads.

A complete independent compatibility matrix for every firmware between 7.00 and 13.60 is not yet available.

Relapse is not a hypervisor exploit, permanent custom firmware or untethered jailbreak. The exploit must be executed again after fully restarting the console.

Users should not assume that PS5 FPKG installation and execution will immediately work on every supported firmware. Those features depend on separate patches and payload development.

Important Safety Advice

Anyone interested in testing Relapse should back up important data and expect instability. Running a locally hosted copy using the included serve.py file is safer than immediately depending on an unfamiliar public DNS service.

Do not connect an exploited console to PSN, and never update solely to test a new jailbreak. Users already running firmware below 7.00 should remain on their current firmware and continue using their existing, more mature exploit chains.

Relapse represents one of the most significant PS5 jailbreak releases of 2026, but the next stage will be independent testing, stability improvements and proper payload support across the entire claimed firmware range.

Official Sources

GitHub repository:

https://github.com/ntfargo/Relapse-Exploit

Developer announcement:

https://x.com/ntfargo/status/2104837951943487984

Classification: Public browser-to-kernel exploit chain and ELF Loader

Claimed firmware support: PS5 7.00–13.60

Release status: Public, experimental and undergoing community testing

Not included: Hypervisor exploit, permanent CFW or guaranteed universal FPKG support